Ainerifan  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 


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MISSIONARY  TRACTS. 

NO.  14. 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 
UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH 
OF  THE  5IINISTRY. 


BV  IlEV.  DANIEL  BLISS,  OF  THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BOARD, 

Missionary  House,  3.3  Pemberton  Square. 

1  8  5  6. 


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American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 


MISSIONARY  TRACTS. 

NO.  14. 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 
UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH 
OF  THE  MINISTRY, 


BY  REV.  DANIEL  BLISS,  OF  THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BOARD, 

Missionary  House,  33  Pemberton  Square. 

1  8  5  6. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/claimsofmissionaOOblis 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK  UPON  THE  MENTAL 
STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY. 


God  accomplishes  his  purposes  in  the  moral  as  well  as 
in  the  material  world  through  secondary  causes.  Truth, 
and  men  to  present  the  truth,  are  the  instruments  which 
he  uses  in  converting  the  soul.  Truth  must  be  seen  by 
the  intellect  before  the  will  is  subdued  ;  and  the  preacher 
of  the  gospel  is  commissioned  to  hold  up  truth  sparkling 
with  brightness  before  the  minds  of  men.  The  conver¬ 
sion  of  the  soul  is  not  by  power  nor  by  might,  but  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Yet  vivid  exhibitions  of  truth  precede 
the  descent  of  the  Spirit.  God  is  a  sovereign.  He  turns 
the  hearts  of  men  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned. 
There  are  no  obstacles  in  his  way.  I  will  work  and 
who  shall  hinder  it?  saith  the  Lord.  But  so  far  as  other 
agencies  are  concerned,  there  are  obstacles  which  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  conversion  of  the  soul.  So  far,  then, 
as  man  has  anything  to  do  in  converting  the  world,  we 
may  look  at  the  work  as  at  any  other  enterprise,  and  send 
our  strongest  and  most  skillful  men  to  the  most  difficult 
part  of  the  work. 

What  part  of  the  work  demands  the  strongest  and 
most  skillful  men  ?  Is  it  the  missionary  work,  in  which 
the  preacher  must  tell  over  and  over  again  the  story 
of  the  creation,  of  the  flood,  of  God’s  care  over  his 


4 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


ancient  people,  of  Christ’s  life,  of  his  death,  of  his  re¬ 
surrection  ?  Or,  is  it  the  home  field,  where  men  in  Christ 
must  be  fed  with  strong  meat ;  the  home  field,  the  foun¬ 
tain  from  which  shall  issue  streams  that  shall  make  glad 
the  city  of  our  God ;  the  field  in  which  Presidents  and 
Governors,  teachers  of  colleges  and  teachers  of  theologi¬ 
cal  seminaries  are  to  be  educated  ?  The  prevalent  opin¬ 
ion  is  that  the  strongest  men,  and  men  of  the  best  culture, 
should  remain  at  home.  This  opinion  is  almost  univer¬ 
sal.  Very  few,  however,  will  express  it  directly,  for  after 
saying  that  the  best  men  ought  to  remain  at  home  and 
that  inferior  men  will  do  for  missionaries,  it  would  be  a 
delicate  matter  to  urge  one  to  go  on  a  mission.  Although 
this  opinion  is  not  directly  expressed,  yet  we  learn  its 
prevalence  from  the  remarks  respecting  young  men  about 
to  enter  the  ministry.  Almost  invariably,  it  will  be  said 
of  the  strongest  men  and  men  of  the  best  culture,  that 
they  should  remain  in  New  England.  It  may  be  said  of 
a  man  of  strong  mind  but  not  much  literary  taste,  that 
“  he  will  stir  up  the  people  at  the  west.”  But  it  will  be 
said  of  this  third  man,  “  He  will  do  for  a  missionary.” 
Notwithstanding  this  general  opinion  that  the  strongest 
men  should  remain  at  home,  there  are  reasons  which 
favor  an  opposite  opinion. 

I.  The  missionary  must  contend  against  a  strong  error, 
and  should  therefore  himself  be  a  strong  man.  Idolatry 
is  no  common  foe.  It  has  dragged  down  a  race  made  in 
the  image  of  God,  brutalized  and  turned  the  heart  of 
man  into  the  heart  of  a  beast.  It  is  Satan’s  strongest 
ally.  It  entwines  its  ample  folds  around  the  best  affec¬ 
tions  of  the  heart,  appeals  to  the  religious  sense,  and  thus 
takes  hold  of  all  that  is  immortal  in  man.  It  does  not 
attempt  to  shut  up  the  religious  emotions,  but  leads  them 
out  by  a  dark  and  dreary  way. 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  5 

Idolatry  is  wiser  than  atheism,  and  more  subtle  than 
infidelity.  Atheism  is  foolish,  because  it  denies  the  first 
principles  of  the  mind.  Infidelity  is  weak,  because  it 
scoffs  at  a  belief  in  things  not  attested  by  the  senses,  and 
hence  can  never  have  universal  sway.  Idolatry  does  not, 
like  atheism,  contradict  the  teaching  of  everything  above 
us  and  around  us,  all  of  which  speak  of  God  ;  neither 
does  it  oppose  the  longing  of  the  soul  after  immortality, 
or  its  instinctive  desire  to  worship.  All  nature  and  the 
soul  of  man  cry  out,  There  is  a  God.  Idolatry  replies. 
There  are  lords  many  and  gods  many.  Conscience 
says,  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day.  Idolatry 
echoes  back  the  sound,  lacerates  her  victims,  and  then 
casts  them  into  the  river  or  beneath  the  ponderous  car  to 
appease  the  wrath  of  offended  deities.  The  voice  of  God 
within  man’s  spirit  cries  out.  Worship.  Idolatry  catches 
the  sound  and  shouts  aloud.  Worship,  yea,  worship  the 
sim,  the  earth,  mountains,  lakes,  stocks  and  stones,  wor¬ 
ship  everything.  Here  lies  the  strength  of  idolatry.  It 
wakes  up  into  conscious  action  the  original  faculties  of 
the  soul,  appeals  to  feelings  which  pervade  the  recesses 
of  the  heart,  and  drags  the  spirit  down  to  utter  debase¬ 
ment,  not  by  destroying,  but  by  perverting  the  noblest 
part  of  our  nature. 

Idolatry  is  strong  not  only  because  it  appeals  to  the 
religious  sense,  but  because  it  also  appeals  to  the  worst 
and  strongest  passions  of  fallen  man,  and  encourages 
their  indulgence  by  the  sanctities  of  religion.  No  error 
will  cling  with  such  tenacity  to  the  soul  as  the  one  which 
fosters  the  base  desires  under  the  name  of  piety.  The 
natural  heart  sinks  into  a  more  fatal  depravity  when  she 
calls  her  sin  holiness.  In  this  way,  idolatry  has  made 
her  seat  firm  as  the  eternal  hills.  This  is  the  system  to 
be  overthrown.  The  missionary  work  is  two-fold.  There 
is  a  pulling  down,  and  a  building  up.  In  New  England 


6 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


the  soil  is  already  prepared  for  the  seed,  the  primeval 
forests  have  fallen,  the  few  trees  which  remain  are  scathed 
by  the  lightning  and  writhed  by  the  wind,  and  must  soon 
fall.  But  on  heathen  shores  the  land  is  all  covered  over 
with  trees  which  have  stood  for  centuries.  Beneath  them 
is  the  deep  tangled  wild-wood,  briars  and  thorns  and  bram¬ 
bles.  Into  this  dark  forest  must  the  missionary  go,  cut 
down  tree  after  tree,  dig  up  thorn  after  thorn,  bramble 
after  bramble ;  and  after  he  has  done  all  this,  he  has  like 
difficulties  to  contend  against  as  he  who  sows  the  seed  in 
New  England.  Let  the  missionary  then  have  a  sagacious 
mind  to  detect  error,  and  an  iron  logic  to  pull  it  down. 

II.  Another  reason  why  the  strongest  and  most  skillful 
men  should  be  missionaries,  is  found  in  the  fact,  that 
communicating  Christian  truth  in  language  Jilted  to  the 
conceptions  of  a  heathen  mind,  is  of  all  things  most  diffi¬ 
cult.  If  the  missionary  has  a  thought  to  convey,  he  must 
use  the  heathen’s  language.  But  it  has  no  word  adequate 
to  convey  the  thought.  It  was  never  made  for  Christian 
ideas ;  and  never  carried  a  Christian  thought  from  the 
mind  of  the  speaker  and  lodged  it  in  the  mind  of  the 
hearer.  Hence  the  missionary  is  baffled  at  the  very  out¬ 
set  of  his  work.  Would  he  simply  say,  “  God  is  holy 
he  can  find  no  word  which  means  Jehovah,  and  no  word 
which  means  holy.  Should  he  use  the  word  which  means 
God  in  the  language  of  the  heathen,  he  would  be  under¬ 
stood  to  speak  of  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible  man, 
and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts  and  creeping  things. 
Should  he  use  the  word  which  means  holy  in  the  language 
of  the  heathen,  he  would  be  understood  to  speak  of  those 
disgusting  rites  which  strike  a  death-blow  to  all  virtue. 
The  missionary  must  learn  the  language  of  the  heathen 
thoroughly  ;  he  must  understand  the  power  of  every 
word  ;  and  then  his  ingenuity  is  taxed  to  the  utmost,  for 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  7 

he  is  under  the  necessity  of  giving  new  meanings  to 
words.  He  must  take  the  language  of  idolatry,  the 
vehicle  in  which  sensuous  and  sensual  ideas  have  been 
borne  for  centuries,  whose  very  appearance  and  sound 
suggest  those  ideas  and  those  only ;  he  must  take  this 
vehicle,  and  without  changing  its  appearance  or  sound, 
turn  out  the  old  idea,  put  in  its  place  a  pure,  a  spiritual 
conception,  and  send  it  to  his  hearer  loaded  with  truth. 
If  there  ever  was  a  work  which  needed  a  giant  mind,  it 
is  the  work  of  communicating  truth  in  a  language  which 
has  no  form  of  words  to  express  that  truth.  It  demands 
cneative  power.  God  regenerates  the  heart,  but  man 
must  regenerate  words.  The  language  of  the  heathen 
must  be  born  again,  before  the  idea  of  God,  of  holiness, 
of  sin,  of  redemption  can  be  conveyed  to  the  mind  by  it. 
Such  a  renovation  has  taken  place.  Moses  and  the  Proph¬ 
ets,  Christ  and  the  Apostles  seized  upon  the  language  of  the 
heathen  and  made  it  the  vehicle  of  other  conceptions. 
They  cast  out  devils  from  men  and  women  ;  they  also 
cast  out  unclean  spirits  from  the  very  words  of  the 
heathen,  swept  and  garnished  them,  and  placed  in  them 
pure  thoughts.  This  process  is  going  on  now  wherever 
the  Christian  religion  is  taught.  The  words.  Atonement, 
Redemption,  and  Regeneration,  were  in  use  before  they 
conveyed  the  ideas  which  we  now  attach  to  them  ;  and 
the  word  Paradise,  was  brought  from  the  very  dregs  of 
heathenism,  where  it  signified  a  garden  of  sensual  pleas¬ 
ure.  It  was  elevated  by  the  Jews,  and  signified,  with  them, 
the  garden  of  Eden.  Christ  gave  it  a  nobler  meaning  in 
that  memorable  reply,  “  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
Paradise.”  Still  higher  is  its  meaning  when  he  “  who  walk- 
eth  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  aolden  candlesticks  ”  saith  to 

o 

the  churches,  “  To  him  that  overcometh,  will  I  give  to  eat 
of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise 
of  God.”  Christian  ideas  were  conveyed  to  the  mind 


8 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


by  signs,  by  miracles,  by  the  power  of  the  floly  Spirit ; 
and  while  these  ideas  were  blazinor  before  the  aroused 

O 

attention  and  consciences  of  men,  they  rushed  into  the 
old  vehicle  of  thought  and  made  the  language  of  the 
heathen  radiant  with  a  divine  life.  But  the  day  of 
miracles  is  passed.  Inspired  men  have  all  gone  home. 
The  missionary  must,  by  ordinary  means,  convey  the 
truths  of  the  gospel,  and  change  the  corrupt  and  corrupt¬ 
ing  language  of  the  heathen.  Let  the  missionary  have 
then  a  creative  mind,  a  heart  glowing  with  eloquence,  so 
that  truth  shall  hang  upon  his  gesture,  beam  from  his 
countenance,  and  flash  from  his  eye. 

III.  Another  reason  why  the  strongest  and  most  skill¬ 
ful  men  should  be  missionaries,  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  are  to  lay  the  foundations  of  all  social  reform  and  of 
religious  doctrine. 

In  our  land  the  foundation  is  laid  in  the  religious  con¬ 
sciousness  of  an  enlightened  nation.  The  missionary  is 
to  commence  anew.  A  mistake  in  the  beginning  is  ruin¬ 
ous  in  its  consequences.  A  defect  in  the  acorn  develops 
into  the  misshapen  and  gnarled  oak.  A  fault  hardly 
noticeable,  at  first,  becomes  a  monstrosity  in  time.  The 
wrong  interpretation  of  a  word,  or  the  wrong  meaning  of 
a  phrase,  when  laying  the  foundation  of  a  religious 
system,  works  more  ruin  than  a  thousand  mistakes  after 
that  system  has  been  established.  It  is  like  the  first  sin  of 
man,  which  taints  all  that  come  after.  The  errors  which 
have  racked  the  church  since  the  death  of  the  Apostles, 
can  be  traced  to  slight  mistakes  which  some  of  the 
teachers  in  the  church  made  in  laying  down  the  first 
principles  of  the  gospel.  The  missionary  is  to  make  a 
beginning.  Christianity  must  be  planted  in  China,  in 
India,  in  Africa,  not  by  inspired  men,  nor  by  the  aid  of 
miracles,  but  by  men  guided  by  the  ordinary  providences 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  9 


of  God.  It  must  be  planted  in  the  hearts  of  men,  whose 
intellects  are  no  less  blinded,  whose  affections  are  no  less 
corrupt,  whose  wills  are  no  less  obdurate  than  those  to 
whom  the  Apostles  spoke.  Should  the  missionary  lay 
down  a  false  principle,  philosophy  will  finally  see  it,  and 
draw  it  out  into  a  heresy,  which  will  swallow  up  thou¬ 
sands.  Should  the  preacher  in  New  England  make  a 
mistake,  there  are  ten  thousand  intelligent  laymen  to 
correct  him  ;  but  the  missionary  may  drop  the  seed  of 
some  fatal  error  which  escapes  the  notice  of  all  till  it 
springs  up  like  thorns  to  choke  the  truth. 

Let  us  send,  then,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  gospel, 
men  who  have  a  clear  understanding  of  doctrine,  men 
of  profound  judgments,  who  are  least  liable  to  make 
mistakes. 

TV.  Another  reason  why  the  missionary  work  demands 
the  strongest  men  is  found  in  the  fact  that  a  native  minis¬ 
try  in  heathen  lands  is  to  be  raised  up. 

It  is  not  expected,  it  is  not  desirable,  that  six  hundred 
millions  of  heathens  should  receive  one  million  of  pastors 
from  Christian  lands ;  but  a  few  men  are  to  go  and  preach 
the  gospel  and  raise  up  a  native  ministry.  The  mission¬ 
ary  then  is  a  teacher  of  teachers,  a  leader  of  leaders.  In 
New  England  the  strongest  men  are  sought  to  teach  in 
our  theological  schools,  and  it  is  a  wise  plan,  for  they 
are  to  guide  the  guides  of  the  church  ;  their  work  is  ardu¬ 
ous  ;  their  responsibilities  are  great.  Yet  they  instruct 
young  men  over  whose  cradles  mothers  prayed,  around 
whose  boyhood  the  sanctities  of  religion  were  thrown, 
whose  youth  was  spent  under  the  tuition  of  good  and 
great  men.  These  young  men,  with  correct  morals,  with 
a  true  philosophy,  need  further  instruction  from  the 
greatest  minds,  before  they  can  teach  others  the  truths 
of  religion  where  those  truths  are  almost  universally 


10 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


acknowledged.  The  church  has  decided,  and  wisely  too, 
that  theological  professors  should  be  strong  men.  But 
the  missionary  is  more  than  a  theological  professor,  for  he 
must  educate  for  the  ministry  young  men  over  whose 
cradles  mothers  have  only  muttered  charmed  words ; 
around  whose  boyhood  the  impurities  of  Idolatry  have 
clustered  ;  whose  youth  was  spent  under  the  tuition  of 
magicians  and  jugglers.  These  young  men  with  corrupt 
morals,  with  a  false  philosophy,  with  hearts  all  covered 
over  with  the  plague-spot  of  sin,  must  be  taught  by  the 
missionary  to  teach  others  the  truths  of  religion,  not 
where  those  truths  are  acknowledged,  but  where  they  are 
almost  universally  rejected.  The  missionary  is  more  than 
a  theological  professor,  and  should  be  a  stronger  man. 

V.  Another  reason  why  the  strongest  men  should  be 
missionaries  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Bible  is  to  be 
translated. 

The  translation  of  the  Bible  into  a  language  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  those  who  speak  that  language. 
The  Bible  written  in  the  mother  tongue  of  a  people,  is 
the  only  sure  guide  in  every  thing  that  pertains  to  their 
eternal  welfare. 

King  James,  when  he  wished  to  give  the  English  peo¬ 
ple  the  Bible  in  their  own  language,  saw  the  importance 
and  the  difficulty  of  the  work.  He  called  forty-seven 
men,  the  ripest  scholars  in  all  England,  to  undertake  the 
work,  and  also  ordered  that  the  Bishops  should  find  out 
what  men  of  learning  there  were  who  might  assist;  so 
that,  as  the  King  remarks,  “  Our  said  intended  transla¬ 
tion  may  have  the  help  and  furtherance  of  all  our  prin¬ 
cipal  learned  men  in  this  our  kingdom.”  King  James 
showed  wisdom  by  engaging  the  talents  and  the  learning 
of  the  nation  in  such  an  important  and  arduous  work. 
The  Anorlo-Saxon  race  will  ever  bless  God  for  our  old 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  11 

English  Bible.  But  the  Anarlo-Saxon  race  is  not  a  six- 
teenth  part  of  the  world  ;  other  nations  need  a  Bible  ; 
who  shall  translate  it  for  them?  They  have  no  men 
among  themselv-es  who  can  do  it ;  the  missionary  is  the 
only  man.  He  must  translate  from  the  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  not  into  his  own  vernacular  tongue,  as  did 
the  translators  of  our  Bible  ;  but  into  a  foreign  language, 
which  increases  the  difficulty  tenfold.  Yet,  while  we 
admire  the  sagacity  of  King  James  in  choosing  the  great¬ 
est  and  best  men  to  translate  the  Bible  into  the  mother 
tongue  of  twenty  millions  of  people,  we  take  an  opposite 
course  ourselves,  and  keep  our  greatest  men  at  home,  and 
send  others  to  translate  the  Bible  into  the  mother  tongues 
of  six  hundred  millions  of  people.  Let  us  send  skillful 
men,  men  learned  in  the  ancient  and  modern  languages. 

The  missionary  work  demands  sagacious  men,  men  of 
keen,  logical  minds  ;  for  idolatry  is  a  strong  error.  It 
demands  men  of  creative  minds,  and  men  of  eloquence  ; 
for  the  language  of  the  heathen  is  deficient,  and  truth 
must  be  communicated  by  the  mysterious  power  of  elo¬ 
quence,  which  carries  conviction,  though  words  are  few 
and  falter  on  a  stammering  tongue.  It  demands  men  of 
clear  understanding  and  of  profound  judgment,  for  foun¬ 
dations  are  to  be  laid  on  which  nations  shall  stand  until 
time  is  no  longer.  It  demands  men  who  are  skilled  in 
philosophy,  in  history,  in  all  theological  learning;  for  the 
missionary  is  to  raise  up  a  native  ministry.  It  demands 
men  learned  in  the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  and 
men  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  for  the  Bible  is  to  be 
translated. 

Reason  teaches  us  that  the  missionary  work  pre-^ 
eminently  demands  the  strongest  and  most  skillful  men  of 
the  church.  But  we  are  not  shut  up  to  reason.  We  have 
apostolic  example  to  guide  us,  and  the  words  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  direct  us.  Let  us  go  back  eighteen  hundred 


12 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


and  ten  years,  to  the  city  of  Antioch,  where  the  disciples 
were  first  called  Christians,  and  learn  a  lesson.  “  Now 
there  were  in  the  church  that  was  at  Antioch  certain 
prophets  and  teachers,  as  Barnabas,  and  Simeon  that  was 
called  Niger,  and  Lucius  of  Cyrene,  and  Manaen,  which 
had  been  brought  up  with  Herod  theTetrarch,  and  Saul.” 
These  five  preachers  were  in  Antioch,  the  Syrian  metro¬ 
polis,  the  Oriental  Rome  ;  a  city  upon  which  emperors 
lavished  their  wealth  in  building  porticos  and  aqueducts, 
theatres  and  temples,  walls  and  arches ;  a  city  which 
Josephus  says,  “  without  dispute  deserves  the  place  of  the 
third  city  in  the  world,  both  in  magnitude  and  in  other 
marks  of  prosperity.”  In  this  city,  the  home  of  Roman 
governors,  the  resort  of  pleasure-loving  citizens,  visited 
by  poets,  filled  with  Chaldean  astrologers,  Jewish  impos¬ 
tors,  and  a  worthless  rabble  of  Greeks  and  Orientals  ; 
in  this  large  city  are  only  five  ministers.  There  was  a 
church  in  Antioch,  and  never  did  a  church  need  more 
watchful  care  than  this.  It  had  just  sprung  up  from  the 
deeps  of  oriental  superstition  and  pharisaic  formality. 
There  were  foes  without  and  foes  within,  which  threat¬ 
ened  to  destroy  the  new  religion.  All  the  arguments 
which  are  urged  in  favor  of  keeping  the  best  men  at 
home,  will  apply  with  greater  force  to  the  case  before  us. 
Antioch  was  the  centre  from  which  Christianity  was  to 
radiate,  the  fountain  which  should  send  forth  waters 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  It  stood  in  more  danger 
than  any  modern  city  or  church  of  being  overcome  by 
infidelity  and  superstition.  If  the  Christians  of  Antioch 
had  had  the  same  views  on  the  subject  of  missions  as 
we  have,  and  if  one  of  their  number  had  proposed  that 
two  of  the  five  ministers  should  leave  that  city,  which 
was  nearly  as  large  as  New  York,  and  go  on  a  mission, 
he  would  have  been  called  a  fanatic.  And  if  some  one 
had  proposed  that  the  two  most  learned,  most  eloquent 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  13 

should  ffo,  he  would  have  been  called  a  monomaniac. 
But  God’s  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts 
as  our  thoughts ;  for  as  these  five  preachers  “  min¬ 
istered  to  the  Lord  and  fasted,”  the  Holy  Ghost  said, 
“  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul,  for  the  work  where- 
unto  I  have  called  them.”  Notice  whom  the  Holy  Ghost 
called.  It  is  not  Simeon  or  Manaen,  but  Barnabas,  the 
son  of  consolation,  the  son  of  prophecy  ;  Barnabas,  who 
was  so  majestically  benignant,  and  so  dignified  in  his 
bearing,  that  the  idolatrous  Lycaonians  supposed  that 
Jupiter,  the  father  of  gods  and  of  men,  had  come  among 
them.  The  words  are,  “  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Saul ;  ”  Saul,  not  Lucius.  Saul  is  called  the  last  and 
most  illustrious  of  the  Apostles  ;  whose  youth  was  spent 
in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  whose  ear  was  familiar 
with  the  Greek,  the  Hebrew  and  the  Latin  tongues  ; 
whose  mind  was  trained  to  logical  acuteness  ;  whose 
memory  was  well  stored  with  hard  sentences  of  old ; 
whose  love  for  Greek  literature  led  him  to  quote  the 
poets  in  his  public  addresses;  he,  who  had  seen  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  the  way  ;  a  man  of  powerful  intellect ;  of 
great  insight  into  tlie  foundations  of  natural  theology  and 
of  moral  philosophy  ;  a  man  of  the  sublimest  eloquence  ; 
of  a  fearless  independence  ;  of  the  noblest  patriotism  ; 
the  generous,  courteous,  self-denying  Saul,  is  called  ; 
called  hy  the  Holy  Spirit ;  called  from  Antioch  ;  called 
to  the  missionary  work. 

If  the  missionary  work  does  not  demand  the  greatest 
men  in  the  church,  why  were  Barnabas  and  Saul  called 
to  that  work  ?  I  seem  to  hear  a  hundred  voices  answer. 
The  work  did  demand  the  greatest  men  then,  but  things 
have  changed.”  Things  have  changed  !  What  things  ? 
Has  human  nature  changed  ?  The  character  of  the 
heathen  to-day  is  essentially  that  of  the  heathen  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago.  The  description  which  Paul  gave  of 


14 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK 


them  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans,  will  apply,  every  word 
of  it,  to  the  heathen  now  livino^  on  the  earth.  Things 
have  changed !  What  things  ?  The  law  still  stands, 
“  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.”  “  For  as  manv  as 
have  sinned  without  law,  shall  also  perish  without  law.” 
The  only  hope  of  salvation  is  still  Christ  Jesus.  The 
conditions  of  salvation  are  still  faith  and  repentance. 
“Go  teach  all  nations,”  are  still  living  words.  Sixty 
souls  every  minute  of  time  still  drop  into  eternity. 
Things  have  changed!  Pray  what  things?  Does  a 
community  in  Boston,  does  this  community  in  Andover, 
in  which  is  lodged  more  religious  truth  than  could  be 
found  in  the  whole  city  of  Antioch,  this  community 
walled  about  by  Bibles,  supported  by  the  sentiments  of  a 
Christian  age,  shielded  by  the  prayers  of  ten  thousand 
saints,  does  this  community  demand  a  greater  teacher 
than  the  missionary  work  demands,  when  the  community 
of  Antioch,  full  of  errors,  surrounded  by  idolatry,  dragged 
down  by  the  licentious  customs  of  a  corrupt  age,  did 
not  demand  as  great  a  teacher  as  that  same  work  de¬ 
manded  ?  Opinions  may  change,  but  principles  never. 

The  Holy  Ghost  said,  “  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Saul.”  Christ  taught  humiliation  by  example ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  taught  how  to  select  missionaries  by  giving  an 
example.  But  the  churches,  either  by  not  seeing  the 
fearful  condition  of  the  heathen,  or  by  supposing  that 
a  congregation  in  New  England  of  a  thousand  souls,  is 
more  important  than  all  else,  or  from  desiring  the  best 
thincrs  for  themselves  ;  the  churches,  for  one  or  for  all 
these  reasons  combined,  reverse  the  decision  of  the 
Spirit,  and  keep  the  greatest  men  at  home. 

When  a  church  in  New  England,  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  doctrines  of  the  cross,  rooted  and  grounded  in 
the  faith,  wishes  to  call  a  pastor,  she  hears  many  sermons 
from  many  men,  and  then  says,  Separate  me  Saul  or 


UPON  THE  MENTAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  15 


Barnabas  for  Christian  Antioch;  Simeon  and  Lucius  and 
Manaen  will  do  for  missionaries.  Christian  brethren, 
there  is  something  wrong  somewhere.  There  is  some¬ 
thing  wrong,  not  only  in  keeping  the  greatest  men  at 
home,  but  in  keeping  so  many  men  at  home.  Let  us 
look  again  at  Antioch  and  learn  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Antioch  was  as  wide  in  extent  as  the  City  of  Boston,  and 
contained  more  than  four  times  as  many  people ;  and  yet 
two  of  the  five  preachers  were  called  from  it  to  other 
labors.  They  were  sent  away  not  because  Antioch  did 
not  need  them,  but  because  Macedonia  needed  them 
more.  There  are  twelve  orthodox  pastors  in  Boston,  and 
every  gale  that  sweeps  from  the  East  brings  to  our  ears  the 
cry,  “  Come  over  and  help  us;”  but  no  one  goes — why  ? 
The  voice  of  the  Spirit  is  hushed.  He  only  speaks 
through  the  word  of  God  and  by  the  still  small  voice  in 
the  believer’s  heart.  Yet  should  the  Holy  Spirit  speak 
once  again  in  audible  tones,  I  doubt  not  he  would  say  to 
the  twelve  preachers  in  Boston,  and  to  many  other  twelve 
preachers,  who  dwell  so  near  together  and  have  the 
charge  of  so  few  people,  ‘‘  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Saul  and  Simeon  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called 
them  ;  ”  let  only  Manaen  and  Lucius  remain  to  break 
the  bread  of  life  for  the  few  thousands,  while  these  go  to 
the  perishing  millions  who  have  no  bread. 

At  this  hour,  within  five  miles  of  Boston,  there  are  not 
less  than  twenty  preachers  of  one  faith,  speaking  to  con¬ 
gregations  whose  numbers,  taken  collectively,  will  not 
equal  twice  the  number  of  souls  often  gathered  in  one 
assembly.  Who  can  give  a  rational  reason  why  these 
twenty  congregations  ought  not  to  assemble  in  five  places 
of  worship  instead  of  twenty,  and  listen  to  five  preachers, 
while  the  other  fifteen  are  plucking  heathen  as  brands 
from  the  burning  ? 

Is  there  one  whose  heart  has  been  touched  by  the 


16 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  WORK. 


power  of  divine  love,  that  would  refuse  to  go  five  miles 
every  Sabbath,  and  sit  in  a  crowded  congregation,  if 
thereby  he  could  let  his  pastor  go  to  the  heathen  and  save 
souls  from  the  death  that  never  dies  ? 

I  know  it  is  pleasant  to  have  the  church  near  our 
dwelling,  and  to  have  but  few  in  our  seats ;  and  all  this 
we  may  have,  if  we  will  settle  a  pastor  in  every  little 
village  and  neighborhood,  and  at  the  corner  of  every 
street;  but  I  had  rather  go  twice  five  miles,  and  stand  all 
day  in  the  door  of  the  house  of  God,  than  to  hear  the 
wail  of  a  lost  soul,  which  had  perished  because  I  chose 
to  live  at  ease  in  Zion.  The  church  of  God  in  New 
England  must  awake  ;  she  must  put  on  a  self-sacrificing 
spirit ;  she  must  give  up  her  best  sons  and  her  best  daugh¬ 
ters.  Christian  brethren,  let  us  go  home  to  our  closets 
and  pray  God  to  open  our  eyes  to  the  fearful  condition  of 
eight  hundred  millions  of  perishing  souls.  Let  us  look 
not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on 
the  things  of  others.  Let  us  deny  ourselves  a  feast,  that 
the  heathen  may  taste  a  little ;  and  then  we  and  they  may 
enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city,  and  feast  upon 
the  fruits  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  grows  on  either  side 
of  the  river  of  the  water  of  life  proceeding  out  of  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 


The  foregoing  Address  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Daniel 
Bliss,  now  a  missionary  in  Syria,  at  his  graduation  from  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  Andover,  Ms.,  in  the  summer  of 
1855.  It  is  thought  worthy  of  a  place  in  our  series  of  Mis¬ 
sionary  Tracts. 


